Quality of service for pedestrians: Closing the gaps in knowledge

Walking is the healthiest, most sustainable, most accessible and cheapest form of transport available. However, to encourage more people to choose walking as a mode of transport walking environments need to be made more attractive to walk in. To achieve this, street conditions need to be accurately assessed and the areas most in need of remedial action identified. A methodology is proposed which assesses the Quality of Service (QOS) provided for pedestrians by identifying which features of the walking environment are causing the greatest dissatisfaction. In turn, this identification provides guidelines for the prioritising of improvements to be made.